Team Penske made the grueling trip to Japan this week as they prepare for the Indy Japan 300, the third race of the 2007 IndyCar® Series season on Saturday afternoon.
With just two races in the books thus far, Team Penske is batting. 500 with a win in St. Petersburg earlier this month. In addition, the Team has earned one pole and a second-place finish. If 2006 is any sort of indicator for this weekend’s event, Team Penske should fare well again this year, as the Team heads into Japan once again off the strength of a victory. Last season, Castroneves led a race-high 40 laps in St. Petersburg and then led 184 laps in Japan on his way to back-to-back victories. This season, Castroneves started on the pole in St. Petersburg and led a race-high 95 laps on his way to a second consecutive win on the temporary street course.
Aside from earning his 18th career Indy car victory in Florida, Castroneves broke Rick Mears’ Penske Racing record of consecutive years with a win for the Team. Mears won at least one race for seven consecutive seasons from 1979-1985; Castroneves has won at least one race every year since 2000. Hopefully this bodes well for Team Penske as they look to repeat last year’s win in the “Land of the Rising Sun. ”
